Smoking to be banned at all Isle of Man health settings

Smoking will be banned at all health and care settings on the Isle of Man from Friday, the health and social care minister has said.

Care homes and sheltered living complexes are due to become smoke-free, after hospital sites and GP practices applied the ban last year.

Lawrie Hooper said it was part of plans to cut the number of smokers from 12% of the population to under 5% by 2030.

Vaping will still be allowed in certain outdoor areas at health care settings.

The ban, which has been rolled out in stages, applies to all staff, residents and visitors at facilities run by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and health care provider Manx Care.

It was introduced as part of a push to provide "healthy and safe environments for all, as well as helping to prevent avoidable smoking-related ill-health by encouraging people to quit smoking", a DHSC spokesman said.

He added that help was available for those who wanted to give up or reduce their smoking habit via free stop smoking service Quit4You.

Mr Hooper said the aim was not to stigmatise smokers, but to "instead establish smoke free spaces for everyone to benefit from and to de-normalise smoking to prevent future generations from starting".

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